Stonehill Hosts Rival Bentley for Hall of Fame Game on Family Weekend

Tickets (Available game day at ticket booth): $7.00 Adults
$4.00 (students & senior citizens)
12 and under are free
Stonehill students are admitted free.

Meet Stonehill junior LB Brian Harrington

Coach's Corner with Robert Talley

The Game: Stonehill College, among teams receiving votes in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II poll, opens a two game homestand as it hosts rival Bentley University for a key Northeast-10 Conference matchup at Timothy J. Coughlin (COG-lin) Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium for its annual Hall of Fame Game as part of Family Weekend at the College tonight. The Skyhawks are off to a 2-0 start in NE-10 play for the second straight year after rallying from three 14 point deficits to claim a 41-38 overtime triumph at Assumption College last Friday night. The Falcons are looking to build off a 38-24 victory over LIU Post on Friday night.

Media Info: Live video of tonight's game is available on a pay-per-view basis ($6.99) via www.stonehillskyhawks.tv.Charlie Bergeron, the voice of the Skyhawks, begins his 16th season of broadcasting the action powered by Pack Network. WSHL 91.3 FM will also be broadcasting the game with Brendan Murray and Matt Tardiff calling the action for the radio broadcast.

COACH TO CURE MD: This week is the American Football Coahces' Association's (AFCA) Coach to Cure MD charity effort. You can support the initiative with a $5 donation by texting CURE to 90999 or donate at www.CoachtoCureMD.org.

The Hall Calls: Stonehill held its 2013 Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday night at Martin Auditorium. This year's Hall of Fame Class includes Vern Laws, who coached the football program for eight years from 1973-80 during its club years and played a significant role in shaping the program for a move to varsity status. Joining Laws in this year's Hall of Fame is the 2000 Northeast-10 Champion Baseball Team, Erin Acone, '06 (lacrosse), Kristen McDonnell, '03 (women's basketball) and Rich Scafati, '88 (men's soccer). In addition to his Hall of Fame induction, it was announced that the football coaches' suite in the soon to be built Sports Complex expansion will bear his name.

Votes of Confidence: Stonehill has emerged among teams receiving votes for the first time in program history in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II poll. The Skyhawks earned five votes and are among two NE-10 programs listed among teams receiving votes with defending Conference Champions University of New Haven (17). The five votes essentially place Stonehill with a No. 35 national ranking in the Top 25 poll.

Vern Laws

Golden Boy: Stonehill senior quarterback Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) received the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Gold Helmet Award, sponsored by Ray Galliant Insurance, for Division II/III at the New England Football Writers weekly luncheon on Wednesday at Dillon Fieldhouse on the campus of Harvard University. Meyer is the sixth Stonehill football player to receive the award selected weekly during the season by the New England Football Writers for the top performer from NCAA FCS and Division II/III in the region. Also earning Gold Helmets from Stonehill were former Skyhawk standouts Tony Dello Iacono (1994), Mike McLucas (1994), Dan Field (1995), Tyrone Jefferson (2000) and Cruz Parsons (2005). Meyer engineered a Stonehill offense that racked up 503 yards of total offense in Friday night's 41-38 overtime victory at Assumption College in which the Skyhawks rallied from three 14-point deficits. He played a role in all six Stonehill touchdowns in the win, passing for five and rushing for another for the second-straight week. Meyer completed 27-of-49 passes for 372 yards and the five touchdowns

Against the Falcons: Tonight marks the 28th meeting all-time in what Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan once dubbed the best Small College rivaly in New England. Bentley holds a 21-5-1 advantage in the all-time series, having won each of the last three encounters, including a 17-7 decision in Waltham last season. The Falcons are 11-3-1 all-time here in Easton, including 3-2 clip here at W.B. Mason Stadium since it opened in 2005. Head Coach Robert Talley is 2-5 in his career against the Falcons.

Defensive Player of the Week: Junior linebacker Brian Harrington (Rockland, Mass.) was named the Northeast-10 Conference's Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday. He led the Stonehill defense in Friday night's 41-38 overtime victory at Assumption with a career-high 17 tackles (nine solo), including 1.0 for a loss of two yards, and a forced fumble which led to the Skyhawks first touchdown on the next play after they had fallen behind 14-0 ten minutes into the contest. Harrington also earned a spot on the NoontimeSports.com New England Football Weekly Honor Roll for the second time for his efforts. He collected Defensive Player of the Week honors following week one as well.

They're Honored: Stonehill senior quarterback Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) and junior wide receiver Nate Robitaille (Attleboro, Mass.) were both named to the Northeast-10's weekly honor roll on Monday for their efforts in Friday night's 41-38 overtime victory at Assumption. Robitaille was Meyer's top target as he caught a career-high 13 passes for a career-best 190 yards and two touchdowns. Meyer and Robitaille were joined on the NoontimeSports.com New England Football Honor Roll by junior linebacker Brian Harrington (Rockland, Mass.).

Brian Harrington

Team of the Week: Stonehill earned New England Division II Team of the Week recognition from NoontimeSports.com on Monday. The Skyhawks racked up 503 yards of total offense, with 372 through the air and 131 rushing, in the 41-38 overtime victory at Assumption. The defense forced three turnovers for the second-straight week to help the team rally from three 14-point deficits, including a 28-14 hole early in the third quarter.

Friend and Foe: Stonehill junior wide receiver Nate Robitaille (Attleboro, Mass.) and Bentley sophomore wideout Chris Walsh (Attleboro, Mass.) are former teammates at Attleboro High School and will square off tonight as opponents. Both are coming off 100-yard performances in week three.

Chart Topper: Senior quarterback Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) is undergoing an massive rewrite of the Stonehill passing records, having broken Hall of Famer Tony Dello Iacono's, '95 career record for touchdown passes (46) at Assumption Friday night with Meyer finishing the night with 48. Meyer became the program's all-time leader in passing yards (5,510) against Saint Anselm in week two and also holds career records for completions (435) and pass attempts (813).

Triple Double: Junior linebacker Brian Harrington (Rockland, Mass.) posted his third-straight double-figure tackle performance to open the season with his career-high 17 stops (nine solo) in Friday's 41-38 overtime win at Assumption. Harrington had a then career-best 16 tackles (eight solo) at #16/18 Bloomsburg (Pa.) in week one. He leads the NE-10 and ranks third nationally in Division II with 43 tackles, while his Conference-best 23 solo tackles rank seventh nationally.

Nate Robitaille

You Can Put it On the Board: Senior quarterback Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) ranks third nationally in Division II (2nd NE-10) with his 12 touchdown passes through three games, ranking fourth in points responsible for with his 12 TD passes and two rushing touchdowns giving the Skyhawks 84 points. Meyer also ranks among national leaders with 849 passing yards (29th), 14.9 yards per completion (24th), 283.0 passing yards per game (31st) and his 139.8 pass efficiency rating (43rd).

Top Target: Junior wide receiver Nate Robitaille (Attleboro, Mass.) posted career-highs for recptions (13) and receiving yards (190) for the second-straight week at Assumption on Friday, finishing with a career-high matching two touchdown catches as well. The reception total is tied for second-highest all-time at Stonehill, while his yardage total ranks fourth on the single-game charts. He ranks second among NE-10 leaders and eighth nationally with 391 receiving yards and 130.3 yards per game, while also ranking third in the Conference with 27 receptions (12th nationally), fifth for TD catches (3) and eighth for yards per reception (14.5).

For Henry: The Stonehill football team keeps the memory of former teammate and friend, Henry Thevenin, '14, close to them once again in what would have been his senior season. Thevenin passed away on June 14, 2011, due to complications from a two-month battle with leukemia. The Skyhawks continue to maintain his locker in a place of prominence in the team lockerroom. In week one of last season against Curry, the team honored Thevenin by playing its first defensive play with ten players. Thevenin appeared in seven games for the football team, starting the last six, as a freshman in 2010. He totaled 18 tackles, eight solo, with a pass breakup for the Skyhawks. Thevenin was a 2009 graduate of nearby Brockton High School and prepped one year at Suffield Academy in Connecticut.

Aye, Aye, Captains: Head Coach Robert Talley named seniors Tim Bennett (DB), Logan Meyer (QB) and Justin Willis (RB) as team captains for the 2013 season after a vote of the returning players last spring.

Nick Claudio with his Stonehill teammates

Making an IMPACT: Prior to the start of spring ball, the Stonehill College football team welcomed Nick Claudio (Mattapoisett, Mass.) to its program during a draft ceremony through Team IMPACT (Inspire, Motivate, Play Against Challenges, Together). Team IMPACT is a New England based non-profit that aims at improving the quality of life for kids facing life-threatening illnesses by creating unparalleled team based support systems with area college athletic teams. Nick is the latest from Team IMPACT to join the Skyhawk family as the football team joins the men's and women's basketball, field hockey and ice hockey teams to be involved with the program. Nick, 12-years old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor on his optic nerve in July, 2010, that put so much pressure on his optic nerve that it led to losing his vision. He has remained upbeat, being quoted as saying in a recent news article, "A loss of sight is never a loss of vision, you need to be able to look forward and keep moving." After losing his vision, he has adapted to life being blind by teaching himself braille, learning to ski and graduating from his elementary school at the top of his class. In July 2012, doctors found two additional tumors, one on his auditory nerve. In an effort to save his hearing, doctors opted to treat it with chemo and radiation rather than doing surgery which carries the threat of him going deaf.

Academic Success: Stonehill College has been recognized for its academic performance with regard to graduation rate by earning a 97-percent Academic Success Rating (ASR) as released by the NCAA last fall. The ASR considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes while also giving credit for any student-athletes that transferred from the institution while in good academic standing. In addition to Stonehill's overall ASR of 97%, nine of Stonehill's 16 athletic programs (cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field are combined by the NCAA) received perfect scores of 100%. Stonehill's 97% ASR ranks second among NE-10 institutions behind just Saint Michael's College (98%) and ranks fifth overall in NCAA Division II. The football team maintained an ASR of 95% - signifigantly higher than the federal rate of 80%.

Leaders of the Pack: For the fifth-straight year, Stonehill College is partnering with Pack Network to provide live "Packcasts" of all home football and men's and women's basketball games along with other select athletic events. Fans can access the webcasts via www.stonehillskyhawks.tv. Viewers can opt to purchase single-game passes for $6.99 or purchase an "All-Access" pass for $59.99, however Skyhawks Fans who sign up for an All-Access pass before October 1 will receive a $10 discount. All-Access pass members can view all Stonehill webcasts for the entire year, while also gaining access to the archives and be able to watch the webcasts at any time.

Getting Social: Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics now have two social media outlets to get updates on all 20 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @SkyhawkTalk on Twitter!

On Deck: Stonehill is right back in action here at W.B. Mason Stadium next Saturday when it hosts preseason NE-10 favorites American International College for a Conference matchup at 1 p.m.